Oh What a Week!

What a week! We had a wonderful time last weekend with family and friends in town for the tournament on Monday. We had a great day here Sunday, barbequing, swimming and just enjoying being together. Monday morning we woke up, got the older kids off to school, then Brooklyn's nurse came over to draw her blood, and we were off to the golf course! We met up with my mom there and she took Brooklyn and Kelsey back to her house for the day. My aunt picked up Braden and Kayla from school a little early so they could come out to the course for the afternoon too. It was so much fun to see friends from out of town that we haven't seen in awhile, as well as those that live in town that we don't get to see often enough. It was a beautiful day for golf and the winners of the tournament were really awesome. Oh wait - that was my group! HA!! No, it wasn't rigged, we were just that good. :) I got to play with my dad, our good friend Patricia and a very special friend of ours named Hailey. Hailey is 10 years old and quite a little golfer. When she heard about Brooklyn's tournament, she went around and raised money from friends and family so that she could come out to play. She even missed her first day of school to be there. It was such a touching act, Mike and I couldn't believe it. I had to make sure that she was in our group, and she was a huge part of our victory! She was so sweet afterwards, she gave Brooklyn a "get well soon" balloon that she had bought for her and talked with her for awhile. It was great. After dinner, Steve Holy and two of his bandmates put on an amazing show for us. I took Brooklyn over to meet him before the concert and he was so amazingly sweet and talked to us and wanted to hold her. His concert was awesome. It couldn't have been more perfect. It was so intimate and Steve kept talking to Brooklyn and telling stories, it was truly a night our family will never forget. We feel so incredibly blessed by the whole day, and thankful to have such amazing people surrounding us. It was a little tougher to wake up Tuesday morning for school, but we got everybody there on time. Then Brooklyn and I went down to the infusion room for chemo. I always have grand plans for all the stuff I want to get done while we are sitting there, but it never seems to happen. :)  This time, Brooklyn wanted to sit on my lap the whole time, I was kind of like her human recliner. It was good though, I really treasure these times when just the two of us are together. I never get tired of holding her hand or snuggling or getting big Brookie hugs. They were out of one of the anti-nausea medicines that they usually give her through her IV line, so they tried to just crush a pill and mix it with juice in a syringe for her. She didn't want to take it, and I was thankful we happened to be the only ones in the lab at that time b/c she was letting everyone know she didn't like it. :) When I finally got her to take it, she threw up right away. I decided that we didn't need to try again - we would just try to get by with the other kind they could put in her IV. I didn't want her to feel sick, but I didn't want to force her to take that medicine again either. Later she got her finger pinched in the chair, so it was a bit of a rough morning for her. That night we had back to school night at Braden's and Kayla's new school. Mike and I got a quick dinner afterward which was nice since we have been so busy lately. Wednesday we got the house picked up a little and then had soccer practice for both Braden and Kayla and then back to school night for Brooklyn's preschool. Thursday night we had our couples small group, so by Friday night we were exhausted. Friday after Kayla's soccer practice, the kids and I stayed for awhile and played kickball on the baseball field. It was really fun to just play and have fun together, and the kids got absolutely filthy - which they looooved. I am always happy when we take the time to just play and have fun together, especially during these days when there is so much on the schedule, it can seem like there is never time for that. Saturday, Braden and Kayla had their first soccer games! It was so much fun. I don't know what it is about soccer, but I can't stop yelling the whole time! I guess it is the inner soccer-mom coming out in me. Brooklyn had a great time because she got to have the snacks from both of the kids' games. It's great to be a younger sibling. :) Today we celebrated my dad's birthday at our house. We had a fun day swimming and playing baseball and eating cake of course! It was such a full week, but it was full of wonderful things, and I am so thankful and so happy that we are able to do all of them together.